New York Consolidated Laws, General Business Law - GBS § 760. Definitions

1. “Person” means any individual, firm, corporation, association or partnership, cooperative association, joint venture, joint stock association, business trust, their lessees, trustees or receivers, governmental unit or public authority whether or not incorporated.

2. “Excavation” means an operation for the purpose of movement or removal of earth, rock or other materials in or on the ground by use of mechanized equipment or by blasting, and includes, but is not limited to, auguring, backfilling, drilling, grading, plowing in, pulling in, trenching and tunneling;  provided, however, that the movement of earth by tools manipulated only by human or animal power and the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes shall not be deemed excavation.

3. “Demolition” means the wrecking, razing, rending, moving or removing of any structure.

4. “Underground facilities” means pipelines, conduits, ducts, cables, wires, manholes, vaults or other such facilities or their attachments, which have been installed underground by an operator to provide services or materials.  Such term shall not include oil and gas production and gathering pipeline systems used primarily to collect oil or gas production from wells.

5. “Excavator” means a person who is engaged in a trade or business which includes the carrying out of excavation or demolition;  provided, however, that an individual employed by an excavator, and having no supervisory authority, other than the routine direction of employees, over an excavation or demolition, shall not be deemed an excavator for the purposes of this article.  In construing and enforcing the provisions of this article, the act of any employee or agent of any excavator acting within the scope of his or her official duties or employment shall be deemed to be the act of such excavator.

6. “Operator” means a person who operates an underground facility or facilities to furnish any of the following services or materials:  electricity, gases, steam, liquid petroleum products, telephone or telegraph communications, cable television, sewage removal, traffic control systems, or water.

7. “Damage” means an impact upon or removal of support from an underground facility consequent to excavation or demolition which, according to the operating practices of the operator, would necessitate repair of such facility, destruction of any underground facility or its protective coating, housing or other protective device, and impact with or severance of an underground facility.

8. “One-call notification system” means an organization among whose purposes is establishing and carrying out procedures and programs to protect underground facilities from damage due to excavation and demolition including, but not limited to, receiving notices of intent to perform excavation and demolition, and transmitting the notices to one or more of its member operators of underground facilities in the specified area.

9. “Local government” means a county, town, city or village.